


Worst Friends

by Kalaiscope



Category: Guardian Ghost
Genre: (maybe), (we don't actually know how old they are in this AU), Alcohol, Asexual Character, Asexual character put in very uncomfortable situations, Awkward Roommates, College AU, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-07
Updated: 2013-09-07
Packaged: 2017-12-25 16:12:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/955156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalaiscope/pseuds/Kalaiscope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That is, they're really bad at living with each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worst Friends

**Author's Note:**

> I have an exceptional fondness for characters having awkward relationships (of any kind) and even more awkward interactions. Also unrequited Dave>Max is like my favorite thing ever, even if it's more because Dave has abandonment issues and trouble making/keeping friends.
> 
> Granted the [Official Seal of 'In-Character Enough'](http://cm8x-insanity.tumblr.com/post/60323701848) by Manny herself.

Max hates his roommate. That's really all there is to say about it.

Alright, so he doesn't exactly hate Dave himself, but living with the guy is incredibly taxing, both mentally and emotionally. He's just so LOUD, and he's sloppy and obnoxious and he brings home girls too often and hangs around watching bad reality shows while high and laughs his ass off with that horrible, annoying guffaw he has. He's not a bad friend, but he's the worst roommate. If Max could afford to live on his own (or if he had any other friends he was comfortable enough around to live with) he would ditch Dave in an instant.

But that's not an option, and though he finds the whole thing abhorrent, he knows Dave needs him. Needs someone he can rely on, someone he can pretend he's helping. It's a stupid delusion, and Max has never once pretended its true, but he doesn't talk about it either. After all they're friends, however weird their relationship is. Even if Dave is a shitty excuse for a roommate.

Even when Max comes home to find him sprawled on the couch, surrounded by empty beer cans, and utterly drunk off his ass.

His first reaction is to just turn around and walk right back out, but it's already too late. He's been spotted. A lopsided grin spreads across Dave's face, and he struggles upright, dislodging the cat previously lying on his chest. (Not their cat; the landlord doesn't allow pets. Somehow though, Dave seems to collect the animals, even more often when his inhibitions are down. It's an ongoing mystery.) 

"Lanky duuuuude!" He slurs, opening his arms in a gesture that could be a greeting but is probably just a demand to be hugged. "Where ya been? I was gettin' lonely." His hair is sticking up and he looks ridiculous. He's not wearing any clothes either, just a pair of patterned boxers. The shed clothing is flung over the side of the couch, with one of his socks sitting in a mostly empty bowl of stale chips. Max grimaces.

Skirting around the disaster zone, he drops off his bag just inside his room, and then turns back to survey the damage. "Dave, we've been over this. If you're going to drink, do it somewhere I don't have to deal with it." He picks up an empty can and starts making a stack on the table. The cat twines around his legs, purring loudly, but he ignores it. "I thought you weren't going to be back tonight anyway. Couldn't you drink at the party?" 

A noncommittal grunt is Dave's answer, and fingers start tugging at the back of his shirt. Max ignores this as well. "Wasn' a party," the drunk mutters at last. "Date." Well, that certainly explains it. "'Was shit." That much is obvious. "You know, she jus' wanted t' get closer with Clarence. Shoulda seen that comin'. I mean ser's'ly, who doesn't have th' hots for that asshhole." Sturdy arms are wrapping around his torso, and Max feels the dull thunk of a forehead hitting his back. "S'not fair, I'm cool too, 'n he's got Clara anyway." 

"Clara is his sister," he points out, and Dave thumps his head again.

"Not like thaaat. I mean-" Max can feel him struggling with his words, unable to quite explain the concept in his inebriated state. "He doesn't have t' date, 'cause he won't be lonely, y'know? He's got Clara." He tightens his grip to the point of being uncomfortable, and Max finally starts trying to pry him off. "I've only got you, n you don't even LIKE me." His arms go limp, allowing Max to free himself and turn around, but they're immediately back up and pulling him down onto the couch, snaking up and under his arms to cling onto his shoulders. Max grinds his teeth in frustration.

"Dave, let go of me." His fingers are digging painfully into the flesh of his upper back. A head of spiky hair is pressing under his chin. He stinks. When was the last time he showered? He smells like cheap beer, greasy food, and sweat. He's turning the front of Max's shirt damp, but he doesn't think THAT'S sweat at least. Sighing, Max lets his hands fall from where he was trying to push the boy off. "I don't hate you." 

Dave mutters, "Yeah, but you on'ly put up with me. I dunno why, even." Max lets out a short laugh.

"Yeah, neither do I. You come home and get yourself smashed and then expect me to take care of you. You don't clean up after yourself. It's your fault we have to pay for extra cable." There's a stretch of silence, and then he adds, "...But you're not doing it to be annoying on purpose, so I can deal with it I guess." He splays his fingers out over Dave's spine and lets out a strangled 'oof' when he's squeezed tighter again. "Can't breathe..." The death grip loosens, but only slightly.

With his face still shoved against his roommate's chest, the reply Dave makes is muffled and indistinct, only barely loud enough for Max to make out. "You're not gonna go 'n leave me alone?" Max sighs.

"I wont leave you alone." Not for now, anyway. But eventually Dave is going to have to go out and make his own friends, real ones that he hasn't just latched onto out of necessity, and let go. Sooner or later they're going to go their separate ways. 

Dave's fingers are squeezing at his flesh, and it hurts. He starts to pry them off, shifting and grimacing, but then Dave moves, and suddenly it's not his shirt that feels damp anymore, it's his neck. His stomach turns, and Dave kisses his jaw, his cheek, misses and hits his ear, a sloppy smacking sound that gives him goosebumps of the less pleasant kind. "Please," Dave whispers hoarsely between trying to press himself as close to his roommate as physically possible. "Please stay, I lov' you, don' wanna be alone, not again," and he's probably crying but Max feels like he's going to be sick, and there's no room in him for pity right now. 

"Stop." It takes a stupendous effort, but he manages to throw Dave off, shoving and bringing up his knee to block any further attempts. "Don't do that. We've talked about this." Dave just sits sullenly though, and his eyes are red and bloodshot and pained. Max knocks over the stack of cans as he retreats. "Talk to me in the morning, when you're sober. And don't drink any more, okay?" He doesn't wait for a response, and even if he had, he wouldn't have gotten one.

The cat scratches at Max's bedroom door for a while, after its been closed and locked behind him, until Dave comes and picks the creature up. He murmurs to it quietly, but Max can't quite make out the words. Everything is silent after that. He falls asleep counting the seconds before Dave tries to open the door and into bed with him, so he doesn't notice that it never happens.

When he wakes up, it's to the sound of his alarm clock reminding him of early morning class. There are no cans to be found. (He knows, he checks.) Nor is there any trace of his presumably hungover roommate. But the door to the other bedroom is pulled shut, and one of the windows is open and missing a screen.

He leaves a glass of water and a couple tablets of alka-seltzer sitting on the kitchen table anyway.


End file.
